Bank of Baroda opens new electronic unit in UAE

Dubai, Oct 22 (IANS) Bank of Baroda (BoB), which has major operations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), has opened a new electronic banking service unit (EBSU) in Abu Dhabi.India’s Ambassador to the UAE Talmiz Ahmad and BoB chairman and managing director M.D. Mallya inaugurated the unit at the Mussafah area of the UAE capital, according to a BoB statement.

Speaking on the occasion, Mallya said the bank was going strong despite the ongoing global financial crisis.

“The clientele base of the bank is presently 33 million customers spread throughout the world with overseas presence in 25 countries with 72 offices,” he said.

“The bank plans to expand by opening 10 more branches abroad during 2008-2009,” he added.

In his speech, Ahmad described the bank as the best among all public sector banks in India with new initiatives being launched frequently.

He, however, stated that banks needed to exercise maximum caution in this time of financial crisis.

He also appreciated the fact that the new unit opened at Mussafah would cater to the needs of the humblest segment of that area.

Ashok Gupta, chief executive of BoB’s Gulf operations, said with the opening of the customer centre at Mussafah, customers living in the vicinity would get banking services at their doorstep.

“Various services like collection of applications, account opening forms, cash withdrawal etc would be available to them,” he said.

Also present on the occasion were prominent UAE-based businessmen Yusuf Ali and B.R. Shetty.

This is the second BoB EBSU in the UAE, the other one being in Jebel Ali, Dubai. The bank has six full-fledged branches in the UAE, which is home to around 1.5 million expatriate Indians.